Reuters Inaccurately Quote Cuban Scientists Saying 'no evidence' for Underwater City Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Leave it to Andrew Cawthorne to find some carpers who want to argue with National Geographic (who funded the expeditions) and the Canadian exploration company ADC... Actually, Reuters' headline and Cawthorne's lead are both terribly misleading. It's "Cuban experts," (that is, specialists IN Cuba, who are Cuban) and not "Cuba experts" (who could be researchers on Cuba anywhere in the world) who say that the find might represent a natural rock or coral formation, and that it is not yet absolutley certain there's an anciet city down there. They never said there is "no evidence" for an underwater city. Cawthorne never seems to tire of wiping egg yolk off his stupid smirking face. However, we have to give him (or more likely his editors) a pat on the back: Reuters has managed to publish a complete story about Cuba without using the adjective "communist-ruled" even once! ] source - JosePertierra@aol.com Cuba experts [sic] say no evidence for underwater city By Andrew Cawthorne HAVANA, Dec 13 (Reuters) - There is no evidence a recently discovered "spectacular" rock formation on the seabed off Cuba's western tip was a lost city belonging to an unknown ancient civilization, Cuban specialists said on Thursday. Canadian exploration company Advanced Digital Communications (ADC) had indicated the structures discovered at about 2,100 feet (650 metres) below the ocean surface might be ruins of a submerged urban center from thousands of years ago. But local specialists warned it was too early to tell, and said the formation may have a natural explanation. "There are no convincing signs of the presence of man-made work," said Dr. Gabino La Rosa, of the National Anthropological Center, who added that he participated in a summer expedition with ADC to explore the zone. "Without doubt, it's a spectacular find, but it could have a natural, not cultural, explanation. ... Up to now, all we can say is that there are large rock formations ... which show a certain organization and are also evocative of pyramid shapes." ADC said the structure off the Guanahacabibes Peninsula was on a land-strip that probably once joined Cuba to Mexico's Yucatan region before being sunk by volcanic activity. The company said an underwater robot, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), filmed parts of the 7.7-square-mile (20 sq km) area in July, showing smooth, granite-like blocks laid out in structures resembling pyramids, roads and buildings. 'NOT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE' ADC's Soviet-born Canadian ocean engineer Paulina Zelitsky, who led the summer expedition, said that while the formation looked like a man-made structure from at least 6,000 years' ago, further research was needed and "it would be totally irresponsible to say what it was before we have evidence." La Rosa, in comments to Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina, shed doubt on the hypothesis of a "Lost City." "During an investigation, we cannot get carried away by enthusiasm or initial suppositions without proving or rigorously demonstrating our hypotheses," he said. Although La Rosa did not explain what could be the natural causes of the stone structures, some other foreign experts hearing about the case said they could be limestone or other geological formations which have in the past misled explorers in other parts of the world. Another Cuban specialist, Dr. Jose Diaz Duque, of Cuba's Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, said it was "hasty" to be talking about a possible sunken city. "There is not sufficient evidence," he also told Prensa Latina. "The first inhabitants of this region arrived more than 4,000 years ago and, on the evidence found, they could not build streets, ramps or a city. They had an inferior level of development and generally lived in caves." He added that when Cuba was thought to be joined to mainland Latin America, millions of years ago, there was no human life on the continent. ADC is the deepest operator among four foreign firms working in joint venture with President Fidel Castro's government to explore Cuban waters containing hundreds of treasure-laden ships from the colonial era. 17:25 12-13-01 ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytenv-12.17.01-23:37:49-20253